Instead of iPhone 5s Pre-Orders Retailers Start Taking Names

There are no official iPhone 5s pre-orders this year as Apple hopes to drive consumers to the Apple Store to buy the new iPhone 5s, but that isn’t stopping retailers from starting to take names for unofficial iPhone 5s pre-orders.

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Typically Apple offers iPhone pre-orders online a week before release, but this time Apple is not taking iPhone 5s pre-orders, forcing those who want a new iPhone on the iPhone 5s release date to stand in line at an Apple Store or a local carrier.

Apple will start taking iPhone 5s orders on September 20th, possibly at midnight Pacific, but those will not arrive until the following week at the earliest.

Today Gotta Be Mobile confirmed that retailers will be carrying the iPhone 5s at or on release and this evening we were able to join others on an iPhone 5s pre-order list at a local Radio Shack.

Apple is not offering iPhone 5s pre-orders, but Radio Shack and others are taking names for the new iPhone.

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The employee at a Radio Shack store in Ohio said they weren’t officially taking iPhone 5s pre-orders but he was able to add our name to an “Opportunity list” which would get the ball rolling. The employee plans to call customers who are on this list on September 13th or 14th when the store expects to know more about their iPhone 5s release date plans, including any information about an early store opening.

While the employee at first called this an iPhone 5s pre-order, he quickly let us know that this does not guarantee an iPhone 5s on September 20th. Because this is a smaller Radio Shack location, it gets a small amount of iPhones on release day, the employee explained. He did however confirm that the store is planning to sell the iPhone 5s on day one, and that they should have some units.

This is a change form 2012, when this same location was able to take iPhone 5 pre-orders that promised release day delivery for shoppers who came in early enough.

If Radio Shack does not have the iPhone 5s color or capacity we want, the employee said they would be able to order it online for my in store on September 20th with free two day delivery, which would put a new iPhone 5s in our hands by Tuesday September 24th at the latest, assuming the order gets in before Apple’s initial stock sells out.

We’ve also heard form another independent wireless reseller who is taking names for the iPhone 5s, but at this point they are still waiting to confirm whether or not they can place an order for iPhones for all people on this list.